The Essence
by Ritalyn
Summary: <html><head></head>"You know how special you are to me, do you?" More than enough men had said those same words, but she had stopped believing them. Her pure essence dying as time went by.</html>
1. Chapter 1

**I'm just throwing this for the heck of it. This is an old story by the name of Bloody Mary that I took away a long time ago. The only difference is that I changed the protocol and it will be composed of the story of three girls but separate.**

**We have Li Hua, Niu (Sam) and Mary Jen. The stories will be written in the same order and all of the stories will connect with one another, with a weak connection between Li Hua's story and Mary Jen's. All of the stories will run in an specific order and some events may be related but will not be seen in the same point of view as one another. The stories may have inconclusive endings.**

**Be warned: some details may be changed to accommodate the characters or the plot into the timeline.**

**Also be warned there will be the next pairings: xOCx (no official mention of the pairing(s)), ZY/XQ, SC/DQ, Lady Wu/SJ/Wu Guotai. As you can see Li Hua's story will occur partly in Wu.**

**Final warning: there will be adult themes like - rape, abuse against women, lots of angst and maybe a unhappy ending.**

**And to make this official: **_Disclaimer - I do not own character's in this story besides any background character and my official OCs (Li Hua, Niu (Sam) and Mary Jen. _

As a final side note, words with a number at the end of it will appear with a definition at the end of the chapter.

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><p><strong>Bloody Mary: The Essence<strong>

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><p><span>Chapter 1: When One Questions Her Origin<span>

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><p>It had been many days since he had seen her, and also too many months since he had touched her. But more sadly it had been many years since she was sent away.<p>

She was a beautiful woman, a woman comparable to the beautiful Diao Chan, but she was also taken. She was taken and it was his fault, her suffering being engrained into his mind as he imagined the pain she must have gone through for all the past years. A pain that on her behalf would double as her body had to act, against her heart and mind. But all was done for duty and not out of love.

Zhou Yu walked around the palace a few days after she had been given away to lord Cao Cao. Her pain was the same pain that he would forever share with the distance. It was the pain that no one understood, the pain that came from a broken heart. And not even his beautiful wife could pacify the regrets that would accumulate over the years, until said regret consumed him.

Xiao Qiao wasn't so happy. Even her bubbling personality seemed to drop as she tried to connect with her stranded husband. He was stranded in a way only a man suffering could have been. And their marriage was deteriorating. Xiao knew that something had to be done soon. She knew of the results she imagined but had no route determined to take control over her and his happiness, their marriage dying like a wilting flower.

It was from afar in one of Wu's main base that she observed her husband. The man walked with a firm footstep, each step an indicator of health and virility. But no man could disguise forever it's suffering, because as his wife, Xiao knew better than anyone of the façade he carried around. Their shared bed having been abandoned by him during the long nights she stayed awake staring at the ceiling, their union seemingly forced.

"Xiao?" a voice asked from behind the petite woman, a voice she recognized from her elder sister Da.

"Have I lost him?" Xiao asked the air as her eyes swelled with tears with her unhappy marriage. Her husband walking in no known direction, his back towards her as if he sensed her eyes trained on him.

"Give him time sister, a man can love all the women he desires. It is our duty as wife's to accept that sometimes, a concubine or a mistress may be more favored by him." Da Qiao said to her younger sister, the woman wisely knowing the duties of her kind. But she had no real competition, the past wife of Lord Sun Ce passing away while she gave birth to his second child.

"But she was none of that to him." Xiao pouted knowing the situation her sister had at hand, a child that was not hers becoming part of the young woman's responsibilities. "He didn't even got to bed her," Xiao finished as she wondered how the interaction between the would have been concubine and her husband would have been back in their days.

"Yes," Da began, her hand brushing a few strands of hair from her sister's face. "But when he married you he promised you his loyalty as a husband. Even to the point of sending her away." The older sister finished as she stared into the big eyes that made the younger Qiao attractive to the male kind.

"But why was she so important?" she wondered out loud, her mind going once more towards her fixation as she studied once more the composure of her husband. His back was still to her, his movements being planned as he if he knew that Xiao Qiao was observing him. Still he made no hint of recognition towards his wife.

"Sometimes to understand an actual event, you must study was happened prior to it." Da said as she fixed her eyes away from her sister and to the handsome man that could have had any woman of his dreams.

"That's something Zhou Yu would say." Xiao said quietly as she observed her husband meeting with her brother in law. Sun Ce was acting all exited, meanwhile Zhou Yu spoke to his best friend with a calm demeanor. "Do you think Sun Ce could tell me their story?" Xiao wondered as she noted a few similarities.

"I believe I have someone better for that." Da answered quietly as she and her sister saluted their husbands from afar, the younger sister moving slower than usual. "She was Lady Wu's maid, she must know the full story behind her."

"But she's not a very inviting person," Xiao told Da as both women had their eyes fixated on their husbands, both which were walking slowly in their direction. "Plus she's too busy overviewing the people's need." She finished as she recalled upon the duties of Lady Wu.

"Not that Lady Wu, more like… Wu Guotai (1) her sister." Da finished as the men came up to both females. Sun Ce gifting his wife with a kiss on the lips, meanwhile Zhou Yu put his arms around Xiao and gently kissed her head.

"So what are you two ladies up to?"

Four days had passed since Xiao knew of Wu Guotai. The woman gently accepted her visit, when the elder brothers of Shang Xiang distracted the young child and younger brother, Lang (2). The room were both women were meeting was silent. A small table separated both as the elder woman prepared a cup of tea for the early morning in which she met the wife of Zhou Yu.

Tipping the tea slightly the woman filled first a cup, once she finished filling two cups; she placed the cups upon the table and sat down. "What can I help you with darling?" Wu Guotai asked the young woman as she accommodated her full figure into a more confortable position.

"Who is Li Hua?"

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><p>(1) Wu Guotai - is the fictitious sister to Lady Wu wife of Sun Jian. She appeared in book Romance of The Three Kingdoms (RTTK)<p>

(2) Sun Lang - fictitious son of Wu Guotai and Sun Jian, along with Sun Shang Xiang both are half brothers to Sun Ce and Sun Quan (RTTK)

**Thank you for reading.**

**Edited: 10.20.2014**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello and welcome back. I felt like updating this chapter, at the end of the story is the glossary. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Bloody Mary: The Essence<strong>

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><p><span>Chapter 2: When the Stem Brought a Flower<span>

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><p>She had come from an unknown family. Gifted as a young child to Sun Jian, when my lord visited Hangzhou in search of gifted men ready for war.<p>

The coast had a small population, seeing as the land was not the best for agriculture, but it was famous for the salty fishes the men captured. Even thought it was rare, there were few events in which men tall as eight and nine chi (1) arrived to the coast. Their skin was red and painful looking, while their nose and lips had a thin consistency. However, most of them carried two striking features that called the attention of the locals, and it was their fair hair and lights colored eyes.

Few of them stayed for long, but some never desired to leave the land. My sister was with Sun Jian during that peculiar visit, Sun Quan being recently born and still dependent on her. It was indeed a different site to behold. They stayed there for a couple of weeks, my lord noticing that the majority women of this land tried to keep a prudent distance from those men.

It was near the tidal bore at the Qiantang River, a magnificent site where the water created a frozen wave. Few men stayed to observe the event, some of them enamored with the different place they came upon, their stories of other lands captivating the few locals who had the capacity to understand them.

But they were rascals. Seeing as the women didn't desired to mix with them they procreated with prostitutes. A few children being born out of those unions, but after close to a year of their visit, the men decided to embark once more. Many of the women that procreated with them followed in their steps, the children that had resulted from the union being stranded in the streets since the men couldn't take them aboard.

Few good people took in the children, the boys being favored because of their value in society, while the females died of starvation in the streets. My sister was horrified at the sight of the dying children, her heart going towards her own new born son.

She insisted for Sun Jian to do something, the horrors she witnessed being enough for Sun Jian to send her and Quan back to safety, to our family. It had been close to ten years since I had last seen my sister, once she returned to us she told us the story of the horrors she saw, but what we never expected was what Sun Jian did next.

Heeding the words of my sister, Wentai (2) began to create order in the coast. The men under his command willingly exanimated the children that were stranded and taken in by the poor families. The strange characteristics of the children made them easy to identify. Most of the children had porcelain skin, their eyes were big and sometimes of a lighter color resembling honey.

It was truly a sight to behold, but only around roughly two or three females had survived against the starvation. The females mostly resembled the males, but there was one that was brought upon as a gift to Wentai. She was different from the others, even thought her skin was more yellowed in tone, it was the color of her hair and eyes that made the locals afraid of her. But what made them more afraid was the fact that she never cried, even as she was dying of starvation.

Sun Jian took the child in his arms and inspected her. He thought she must have been of a healthy weight because she resembled in weight Sun Quan when he was around her age. But he fell for the child, his heart going out for the only child who would probably be rejected due to her characteristics.

"What's her name?" my lord asked the people, but in the event of him inspecting the child her adoptive parents abandoned her, the man and wife disappearing as if they never existed. He looked for them around town, carrying the child in his strong arms as if he were moving a basket full of eggs. But he never found them, and when the locals were asked of them, no one knew of whom Sun Jian was referring to. It was during his search that he found his comrade and friend Cheng Pu, the man was finishing recruiting men for the day.

"What's that?" he asked Sun Jian as he stared into the curious clear eyes of the baby that never cried.

"They left me this child…" Wentai said as he studied once more the small child, the fair colored hair on her head reminding him of feather.

"Has he been weaned?" Cheng Pu asked remembering of the though process his wife was going through when she began to wean his first-born.

"Looks too young for it," Sun Jian told his friend as he thought of what to do. "Demou (3)?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think your wife could take her in?"

"I don't think she would mind." Cheng Pu answered as he took the small bundle from Sun Jian, his eyes examining her as he inspected the gender of the child. "I hope I don't get thrown out," Pu said as he humored his friend and without a official order he began to walk away towards the inn his wife was staying at.

"Wait a minute!" Xiao Qiao almost yelled.

"What is it darling?" Wu Guotai asked as she paused completely with the telling her story.

"Why are you telling me this story? How could Cheng Pu's wife take the baby in? How was she fed? Who were those peasants? How does this related to Zhou Yu?" Xiao asked question after question without stopping, but the hand from the older woman stopped her.

"Xiao," Wu Guotai began as she softly held the younger Qiao's hand. "I know you are confused, but you must understand how it all began before you keep feeling that your marriage will fall apart."

A softer expression came to Xiao's face as she thought of her husband and their future together. "Is that what happened to you?"

"Wentai and I had a different set of life. I fell deeply in love with him but you would never imagine how devastating it is to destroy your own sister by having her husband return the feelings."

"Wow… I can't imagine sharing Zhou Yu with Da, she would surely win his affections." Xiao spoke with a sad tone, as if that were occurring in reality.

"My child, you are not competing in league with your sister. Also you have a wonderful personality that sets you apart from her. You have everything in your arsenal to win many hearts, including your husband's." Guotai said as she stood up, already knowing that her time was up and her two children would be expecting her attention.

Imitating the older woman Xiao stood up, in her mind more questions being created as she allowed her thoughts to wander. "How did he came to love her? How can I compete with her?"

"Li Hua…" Guotai whispered the name as she sent a small prayer to the health of the young woman. "She was a woman that knew how to wait, but the odds weren't in her favor. Being a woman is never in our favor."

"What do you mean?"

"She never got to choose; only valued women like you and my sister will ever get to choose her husband." Guotai spoke softly as the laughter of Shang Xiang and Lang were heard. "Time is up, my children are back." She said it with a smile on her face and tiredness in her expression, her body leaving the small room where the women had tea.

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><p>(1) Chi – traditional Chinese unit for length. Around the time of the Three Kingdoms, one chi would mean something in between 23.1 cm to 24.3 cm or around 9 inches and a little more.<p>

(2) Wentai – Sun Jian's style name.

(3) Demou – Cheng Pu's style name.

**Thank you for reading.**

***This has not been edited.**


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